I have a question about the recipe "Masaledar Sem (Spicy Green Beans)" from Alexandra Stafford. Could I substitute tomato paste for fresh tomatoes? Or would canned tomatoes make more sense? If the answer is yes to either of these, I'd love a suggested amount. Thanks!

While I've never made this specific recipe, as an old fogey I am well acquainted with the flavor of fresh tomatoes, canned tomatoes and tomato paste.

My choice to replace fresh tomatoes would be canned whole peeled tomatoes. I find tomato paste to be highly concentrated, not very similar to fresh tomatoes, but I don't know how your taste buds respond.

As to the amount, I'd say about a half of a standard 14 oz. can. I rarely cook from recipes, so I would add what I felt would be most likely to please my own taste buds.

Looking at the recipes and the accompanying photos, the tomato does not appear to be a primary ingredient, it's more there to add some moisture and acidity, so I would refrain from adding a large quantity.

Thanks so much for this great response, CV! I would agree. It's probably about 2 cups of fresh tomatoes, so I would sun an equal or less amount of canned, peeled plum tomatoes, crushed with your hand or chopped.